Talent Celebration

by UnseenSeptember 27 2017

Each year Unseen Amsterdam collaboratively hosts a number of awards and prizes that highlight and support the very best artists working today. These include the ING Unseen Talent Award, the Meijburg Art Commission, the Unseen Dummy Award and the Outset | Unseen Exhibition Fund. We are delighted to announce all of this year’s amazing winners who represent the range of possibilities in the creation of contemporary photography.

ING Unseen Talent AwardAndrea Grützner (b. 1984, Germany) has been awarded the Jury Prize for this year’s ING Unseen Talent Award! Grützner’s work, titled Hive, addresses how architecture often acts as a metaphor for orientation or alienation. As the winner of the Jury Prize, Grützner will receive a €10.000 award to fund the new project. Additionally, Robin Lopvet (b. 1990, France) has won the Public Prize with his series Économie de marché (Market economy), and has been awarded a commission to create new work for the ING Collection.

Meijburg Art CommissionUnseen and Meijburg & Co announced that Pasi Orrensalo (b. 1969, Finland) is the winner of this year’s Meijburg Art Commission. Artists submitted a proposal to create a unique photography-based artwork for the chance to bring their prospective project to life, and to be included in the art collection of Meijburg & Co Tax Lawyers.

Unseen Dummy AwardMalgorzata Stankiewicz is the winner of this year’s Unseen Dummy Award! Showcasing compelling photobook designs from exceptional artists all over the world, the Unseen Dummy Award grants a winner the opportunity to have their photobook published and distributed on an international scale, positioning their work within the global photobook industry. Stankiewicz‘s photobook is titled Cry of an Echo. Read more about it here.

Outset | Unseen Exhibition FundTheo Simpson (b. 1986, United Kingdom) is the winner of this year’s Outset | Unseen Exhibition Fund! Scouting the Fair before opening hours, an international curatorial committee selected Simpson as this year’s outstanding artist who has never had a solo exhibition in the Netherlands.

Grolsch Unseen Residency Unseen and Grolsch have selected the five nominees for the second edition of the Grolsch Unseen Residency. They are Sofia Ayarzagoitia (1987, Mexico), Thomas Kuijpers (1985, Netherlands), Jannemarein Renout (1969, the Netherlands), Yusuf Senvincli (1980, Turkey) and Daniel Shea (1985, United States). The Grolsch Unseen Residency awards one winning artist a two-month scholarship in a European capital to create a body of work that reflects on the urban space in alternative and uncommon ways.

We are looking forward to next year’s talent submissions and awards! Be sure to check our website for regular updates on contemporary photography and awards announcements throughout the year. Read more about our Talent Development programmes here.